Atlanta Falcons: Dimitroff’s 2012 draft plan
In the team’s 2011 season in review, they reveal general manager Thomas Dimitroff’s 2012 draft plan:
“It doesn’t matter where we are in the Draft, it doesn’t matter
where our needs may be. I really want to have a firm grasp.
You never know where you’re going to see those players later.
It could be in free agency, it could be because of a cut early.
Who knows, so I make sure I’m looking at everyone.”
– Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff on his approach to the 2012
draft.
The Falcons will not select until the 55th pick over. They traded away this year’s first and fourth round picks and a part of the 5-for-1 mega deal with Cleveland last season. The Falcons will also pick in round three, five, six and seven. They are slated to pick 22nd in each round.
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
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92 comments Add your comment
Whopper Dawg
February 29th, 2012
4:02 pm
Yes, let us not aspire to greater things, but rather bow our heads and humbly be grateful for not being the worst team anymore.
The Truth
February 29th, 2012
4:18 pm
Blockbuster – trade Turner and Ryan to move up and get RG3!!
Spoon is in the pot…anyone sturring?
The Falconator
February 29th, 2012
4:51 pm
TD can look at everyone in this draft to his heart’s content. This question remains: What game-changer or ten year All-Pro lineman will be available with the 55th pick? If FA doesn’t produce a couple of guys for the O-line who can hold their blocks and at least one body for the D-line that other teams will fear, then 2012 will be a long and dreary campaign.
ws
February 29th, 2012
4:59 pm
Trade all the picks for a game changer. Draft the big nose tackle Poe. ran a 4.97 and weights 348LBs. He would be a game change.
mark
February 29th, 2012
5:11 pm
this video is like 2 months old, watch nfl network
kingdaddy
February 29th, 2012
5:27 pm
I have one question. When T.D. was with N.E., did they Ever giveup 5 draft picks for one player? OK, one more question. Did T.D. not realize what a hole he was digging for us this year? How about some feedback …
SirReal
February 29th, 2012
5:37 pm
@Whopper Dawg LOL LOL@ shine coming off the apple. Pretty much sums it up. HILARIOUS!
I think this is the year that will make or break Dimitroff moving forward. I can guarantee you that there has been a LOT of research on this free agent group b/c he knows he has to fill some holes there before the draft. With that said, I actually expect this to be the most interesting free agent period in ATL in a while. They seem to usually have a plan so they’ll probably pull a “splash move” out of their hats to appease the fans.LOL Hopefully it keeps the Birds on the ascent. Time tells tales yet to be told.
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
February 29th, 2012
6:24 pm
You folks need to retain your day jobs because you will not make as the GM of the Birds.
TDnoclue
February 29th, 2012
6:45 pm
I see everyone is happy with just a winning season now. You better be because TD has no clue.
True Falcon Fan
February 29th, 2012
6:54 pm
@clueless and you have all the answers right?
True Falcon Fan
February 29th, 2012
7:01 pm
You named yourself perfectly – you have all the questions, you think you have the right suggestions, however you have NO answers so you must be clueless, good bye Clueless!
Put it this way — “If you think you can do a BETTER JOB than TD”, Blank is a very easy man to connect with — go for it “MORON”!
True Falcon Fan
February 29th, 2012
7:17 pm
@TDnoclue aka @Clueless aka @ChuckN’Duck —- let’s hear somemore of your “BS” about TD —- U must have inside “intel” comON with D—-KH—D, moron! I for one am very interested to hear U’r jss logics, your two should be brothers or something????????????????????????
Hey you by chance from LA too? U must live w/U’r momma too, right……
steven a smith
February 29th, 2012
7:18 pm
True Falcon Fan is an IDIOT. Dimitrioff has done an average job at best….
steven a smith
February 29th, 2012
7:21 pm
Julio Jones pick was a great move. Falcons should go after Vincent Jackson with major money..
steven a smith
February 29th, 2012
7:24 pm
Boise St RB Doug Martin should be Falcons 1st pick…. TE Michael Egnew of Missouri 3rd RD.
2 starters for years to come.
D man
February 29th, 2012
8:48 pm
What did we learn from this speech? Absolutely nothing. Sounded like a political speech.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 29th, 2012
9:37 pm
Falcons are CHOKERS! GO HAWKS!!!
stizz
February 29th, 2012
9:56 pm
^^^And the Hawks go on to promptly choke tonight.
tfalcon
February 29th, 2012
10:16 pm
Dont know why any of u guys would think that he would stand up an announce to the world what their plans are,if u even thought u were
going to read anything like that u guys are the real DUMMYS,for u guys that dont know the top reciever in this yrs draft would be a bottom 1 or top of the 2 round guy,this draft is a really lame draft overall
just take a look at how many 5 star players that r in it.But we might be able to get some DL and OL help in the 2nd & 3rd just depends on how it falls and the 1rd pick @22 that browns got from us is really like a 2nd talent check it all out before u bad mouth the JJ trade
Falcon Fan
February 29th, 2012
10:17 pm
If we have to lose Lofton to FA, I say let Spoon be the new leader of the offense and call the plays. I think that guy is ready to bust out in Pro Bowl proportions.
Falcon Fan
February 29th, 2012
10:18 pm
RT @CoachBillick: Boykin, CB, Georgia: Solid in off-man w. competitive drive, will guess at times. Reliable tackler. Elite vert…proof: …
Sounds a little like Asante Samuel
JSS
February 29th, 2012
10:34 pm
TTF is on the hash again… Heaven help us until “his team” implodes on March 12th!
hbcuclassics
March 1st, 2012
4:07 am
HBCU Classic Sports
2012 HBCU Draft Preview
Christian Thompson, S, SC State
http://hbcuclassics.com/meac
OHIOdirtybird!!!!
March 1st, 2012
5:18 am
#1- Focus on O-Line, #2-make sure we get Grimes, and 5-0 Back, #3 If your going to get anything from the draft it has to be O-Line depth and maybe a pass rusher(if we can of course)…….Our defense made some strides under BVG, Just think what we can get out of Nolan. Turner still has a good 2 years, we are actually fine at TE, and I think our free agent “splash” will most likely come in the form of a pass rusher, Unless Abe realizes that he might be a little too old for the money he is asking
DC Dirty Bird
March 1st, 2012
6:27 am
A lot of people won’t like it, but we’re likely going to draft a TE or CB with our #2 pick. If the TE that TD covets is there at #2, he’ll take him. We can’t afford to miss the opportunity to have Gonzo tutor our next pass catching TE. Fleener, Charles, or Allen will likely be there at 55. If Gilmore is there at 55, and we haven’t resigned Grimes, he’s likely a lock there.
Paddy
March 1st, 2012
7:14 am
DC Dity Bird……I don’t know if you are right but your post makes alot of sense to me. For me I say, just draft a player that you really think can be a starter now. Could be difficult at 55 but it happens all the time.
jerry
March 1st, 2012
7:30 am
Who is slower, Gonzales or Turner? Speed kills.
Mikey
March 1st, 2012
8:46 am
Most of these comments are hilarious. At this point, we don’t know the outcome of free agent negotiations, free agent acquisitions nor who has actually been taken in preceding draft picks. These all affect the decision in each round. Like all the other 31 teams in the NFL, the Falcons have needs and will look to fill some of them in the draft. There will be plenty of good players available throughout the draft and there will probably be starters left over as undrafted free agents after the draft is done. The player personnel guys are responsible for knowing as much as possible about each player available in order for the organization to do their best at selecting when they get a chance at each round. The Falcons have some pretty sharp guys on the job and there is no one that can predict the future with 100% certainty (as much as many bloggers claim that they can do so). TD and team have done an excellent job getting value out of later picks and undrafted free agents and that is to their credit.
The test of success over time is whether the team is winning or losing. Our team is WINNING and has been for a few years now! There is a lot that goes into future success including the coaching and the competition. The Falcons are so much better than ever before, it is not even close. I expect the Falcon’s exceptional coaches will utilize the dozens of existing players to succeed and the infusion of a few draft choices will enhance this, especially for the future. It is evident that we now have a first class organization rather than one hoping for a specific player or exceptional luck to push them over the top. In TD I trust… GO FALCONS!
Matt
March 1st, 2012
9:25 am
Brent Grimes and some of his Falcons teammates will be hosting a football camp in Atlatant this summer. check out http://www.footballcamps.com for more detials
Just Looking
March 1st, 2012
9:31 am
Dimitroff is so overrated. You have all these people with the “In TD I trust” slogans. What do you trust him to do? Since Matt Ryan first year, have this team got any better? think about it? Nothing really shows improvement. Playoffs surely doesn’t show it. Moved up the draft boards to get JJ to be more “explosive” Got Ray Edwards to be more “explosive”. In the end it equalled to another 1rst rd playoff NON-competitive exit. He he ever drafted any late rd talents? I’m not impressed with moving up to get JJ. Any GM can do that (which is a very risky move).
The Truth
March 1st, 2012
10:09 am
Matt Ryan is not the answer at QB, Michael Turner is overrated, the DBs (for the most part) can’t cover,and the lines on both sides of the ball are, at best, worse than awful. Dimitroff has not brought anything to the table as the GM. For each good move made, he’s made two equally poor moves.
And for those of you so high on Jones – J.J. will have an injury-riddled career, and never become worthy of his draft position. The guy drops too many passes. He was clearly the 2nd best receiver in the draft last year, and not worth what the Falcons gave up to get him.
tfalcon
March 1st, 2012
10:18 am
@justlooking so ur blaming ray edwards for our play off loss seems defense scored the only points.point that Mikey is making is we are winning we dont just suc! anymore but then alot of fans like urself are
Just Looking for something to complain about(hence ur name)Some fans will always ? the move up for JJ,but in the end when he is playing he can take it to the HOUSE anytime he touchs the ball
The Truth
March 1st, 2012
10:33 am
Tfalcon – so could Jerious Norwood…
Just Looking
March 1st, 2012
11:27 am
tfalcon
what did JJ do in the playoffs? Did he take it to the house? NO. We actually scored 2 pts off a safety. So how did the team improve? Please tell me
Tfalcon
March 1st, 2012
3:14 pm
Did anybody take it the house in that game,No and if u dont know why
Im not going to give u the clue,u can watch the moves they make on the
offensive side of the ball an maybe figure it out.Now before we go saying JJ is injury prown, hamstring injuries were rampant in the 2011
season and most football fans blame that on the lockout,lack of training camp.I could be wrong dont think JJ is going to be like Norwood
(Hope not anyway)
Tfalcon
March 1st, 2012
3:20 pm
@truth u check stats between green & Jones and tell me then who is the bigger play maker green does have better hands, but that can be fixed
Injuries would be the only thing that will keep him from being the stud he will be
CaliDirtyBird
March 2nd, 2012
3:35 am
DOL- You forgot about Micheal Koenen!
I don’t know that where someone was originally drafted is a major part if any in the compensatory picks calc. If I’m not mistaken, it has to do with playing time. As far as I know Koenen was the starting punter for the Bucs and Dahl was a starter all year in St. Louis. Since we only got Edwards in FA and he was on a rotation with a snap count, I’d say we have a shot at one compensatory pick. The 2 DBs we picked up were cuts not FAs.
PlanB
March 2nd, 2012
8:03 am
I wish I had gotten here in time to agree with Whopper Dawg saying Yes, let us not aspire to greater things, but rather bow our heads and humbly be grateful for not being the worst team anymore.
I get so tired of the people who settle. This is about winning. MS & TD have done a good job to get us to having winning seasons. Now let us get what we need to advance and win SB’s.
Address the obvious PLEASE
March 2nd, 2012
3:12 pm
Let’s see….the falcons need defense and O-line, so that must mean they’ll pick WR’s and TE’s.
bobby
March 2nd, 2012
6:21 pm
I HAVE NO FAITH IN THOMAS DIMITROFF AS A DRAFTER. HE CAN’T DRAFT WORTH A ****. HE HAS **** UP ALOT OF PICKS FROM THE SECOND ROUND ON DOWN. HIS BEST TWO PICKS WERE COREY PETERS AND WILL MOORE WHEN HE’S HEALTHY. IT’S TIME TO LET MIKE SMITH AND MIKE NOLAN DRAFT THE DEFENSIVE PLAYERS IN THE DRAFT BECAUSE LOOK AT THE 49ERS, NOLAN DRAFTED OR SIGNED THE BULK OF THAT DEFENSE SO IT’S CLEARLY EVIDENT HE KNOWS DEFENSIVE TALENT AND LET MIKE SMITH DRAFT THEM ALSO BECAUSE HE CAME FROM JACKSONVILLE WHEN THE HAD GOOD DEFENSES AND FROM THE RAVENS WHERE THEY ALWAYS DRAFT GOOD PLAYERS ON D. I DON’T TRUST DIMITROFF WHATSOEVER.
A Bust NO Matter What
March 4th, 2012
9:11 am
Doesn’t matter Dimitroff’s draft plan it will be a bust anyway. His 1st draft was pretty good but since he’s been awful.
mars
March 4th, 2012
8:53 pm
Ben Jones. Center. Best in the nation. Set to go between 51-57 in the draft. We need to win the war in the trenches. Ben Jones.